Tag: $520
My gran died in a mouldy dump and I was given just £520 from her landlord – all they did was paint over black patches
A MAN has said he was given £520 from his gran’s landlord after she passed away because of mouldy in her flat.
Pamela Brown, 95, sadly died after her one-bed rented home, in Warwickshire, became infested with mould.
Michael Poole raised concerns over the mould in his gran’s flat[/caption]
Michael Poole, 41, raised the problem to her housing association Orbit – but five months later Pamela was dead.
Devastated Michael claims a leak from the flat above back in September 2021 meant there was serious water damage in his gran’s bathroom.
He said black mould then took over.
Michael said: “You felt like you were walking into a jungle it was that wet. You could clearly see the ceiling coming down.
“You could see the stress that the support bars were under.
“You could see them coming down.
“At the beginning of October, Orbit said it would take a week and I said this was a risk to life.”
According to the Mirror, Michael received a letter from Orbit apologising for the delays when fixing the issue, along with £520 in compensation.
Michael said someone did come round to look at the problem – but two days later the bathroom cabinet fell off the wall.
This meant all electrics in the bathroom were cut off.
Michael added: “I called Orbit again and kept getting told ‘to leave it with me’.”
He claims all the housing association did was then “paint the damp patches” instead of doing an investigation.
Pamela was in “remarkable health” for her age but was soon suffering from multiple infections after mould started setting in.
Michael added: “Since the damp started she was in and out of the hospital with infections and she wasn’t able to fight it off.”
Pamela was discharged from hospital on January 20 and died on January 22.
A spokesman for Orbit said: “We are saddened by the death of Mrs Brown and extend our sincere condolences to her family.
“In mid-September 2021 we were notified that water had seeped into Mrs Brown’s bathroom as a result of a leak from the property above.
“Once we had completed the repairs, the bathroom was fully redecorated in December 2021.
“Whilst we acknowledge that this took longer than we’d have liked and have previously offered Mr Poole compensation for the frustration caused, we have been provided with no evidence that the water ingress in Mrs Brown’s home was in any way a contributing factor to her death.
“After repeated requests to Mr Poole for the provision of Mrs Brown’s death certificate, once this was provided all outstanding charges allocated to the property’s rent account were reversed and Mrs Brown’s account was closed.
“Mr Poole has not been required to make any payments to us.”
This Alienware gaming PC with an RTX 3090 is $520 off right now
Epic Games to pay $520 million in FTC lawsuit over privacy violations and deceptive interfaces
The Federal Trade Commission has settled an agreement with Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, regarding privacy violations and deceptive interfaces that violate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
As a result of the allegations, Epic Games is to pay a $275 million penalty for violating the COPPA rule, and another $245 million is to be used to refund customers victim to the “dark patterns and billing practices” outlined by FTC.
Additionally, noted as a “first-of-its-kind provision” by the FTC, Epic Games is going to be required to integrate strong privacy default settings for children and teens. Just recently, Epic launched Cabined Accounts for those under the age of 13, and these accounts limit multiplayer communications, in-game purchases, and the ability to install games that aren’t by Epic.
Epic Games will pay $520 million to settle FTC complaints regarding Fortnite
Epic will fork over $275 million for its COPPA violation, which the FTC said is the largest penalty ever obtained for violating one of its rules. A separate proposed order will see Epic pay an additional $245 million to refund customers for alleged “dark patterns” and billing practices, the largest…
Epic Games will pay $520 million to settle FTC’s ‘Fortnite’ case
Fortnite maker Epic Games will pay $520 million to settle allegations that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and “tricked millions of players into making unintentional purchases,” using deceptive design strategies called dark patterns, the Federal Trade Commission said. The agency notes that there are two separate settlements, each of which broke FTC records.
Epic will pay $275 million for allegedly violating the COPPA rule as part of a proposed federal court order. The agency says that’s the largest penalty it has obtained to date over a rule violation. Epic will also refund customers $245 million over its billing practices and use of dark patterns. The FTC claims that’s the largest refund in a gaming-related case and its biggest administrative order to date. It will decide whether to finalize the consent order after a 30-day public comment period.
“As our complaints note, Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children,” FTC chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement. “Protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy invasions and dark patterns is a top priority for the Commission, and these enforcement actions make clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these unlawful practices.”
Fortnite has been a colossal success for Epic. The game generated $9 billion in profit between 2018 and 2019, and $5.1 billion in gross revenue in 2020.
The FTC claimed that Epic violated the COPPA rule by collecting personal data from Fortnite players aged under 13 without notifying or seeking consent from their parents. In its complaint, the FTC said parents who wanted Epic to delete personal information on their kids had to “jump through extraordinary hoops” and even then the company sometimes didn’t honor those requests.
The agency also accused Epic of engaging in “unfair practices” and harming children and teens by enabling voice and text chat by default. “Children and teens have been bullied, threatened, harassed and exposed to dangerous and psychologically traumatizing issues such as suicide while on Fortnite,” the FTC claimed.
As part of the COPPA settlement, the FTC says there’s a first-of-its-kind provision that forces Epic to have more stringent default privacy settings for kids and teens, including making sure that voice and text chat are off by default. The company also needs to delete personal data it has collected on Fortnite players unless a player says they’re 13 or over or it gets parental consent to retain the information.
Earlier this month, Epic rolled out “cabined accounts” for young Fortnite, Fall Guys and Rocket League players. It said at the time these accounts provided a safe way for kids to play its games. Without parental consent, users with cabined accounts are locked out of features like using voice chat or buying items from in-game stores with real money.
The second complaint accused Epic of using “dark patterns to trick players into making unwanted purchases and [letting] children rack up unauthorized charges without any parental involvement.” The FTC claimed that players could be charged when resuming Fortnite from sleep mode, when it was on a loading screen or by accidentally clicking a button next to an item preview option. The agency said these design decisions led consumers to pay “hundreds of millions of dollars in unauthorized charges.”
The FTC said children were able to buy V-Bucks, Fortnite‘s in-game currency, without parental consent until 2018. “Some parents complained that their children had racked up hundreds of dollars in charges before they realized Epic had charged their credit card without their consent,” the agency noted. The FTC has targeted the likes of Amazon, Google and Apple for similar reasons in the past.
On top of that, Epic allegedly locked the accounts of users who disputed unauthorized payments with their credit card companies. The FTC said Epic ignored more than a million user complaints and employee concerns over wrongful charges.
Along with the $245 million Epic will pay to cover refunds, the proposed consent order seeks to block it from using dark patterns to charge users or otherwise charge them without obtaining explicit consent. Epic will also agree not to enact blanket bans for accounts that perform chargebacks, only disabling those it suspects of actual fraud. The FTC will send emails to those who made Fortnite in-game purchases when it has more details to share about the refund program.
Epic Games creator of the video game Fortnite, to pay a total of $520 million over FTC allegations Epic violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and deployed dark patterns to dupe millions of players into making unintentional purchases: https://t.co/yHaQx8VXlu
— FTC (@FTC) December 19, 2022
Epic said in a lengthy statement that, among other things, it has “restored thousands of accounts that were banned due to reported chargebacks under our previous policy.” Payment information will no longer be saved by default, with users offered the chance to opt out. This will add more friction to the checkout process and perhaps help to avoid unintended purchases. “We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players,” the company said.
This isn’t the end of Epic Games’ legal troubles when it comes to Fortnite, which the FTC notes has more than 400 million players. Earlier this month, a judge ruled that a Quebec class action suit claiming the game is addictive (leading one child to reportedly spend more than $6,000 CAD on skins) could move forward.
Epic Games settle Fortnite privacy and purchase complaints for $520 million
Fortnite developer Epic Games is settling two complaints made to the US Federal Trade Commission by paying out a total of more than half a billion dollars. Wall Street Journal report that the FTC alleged Epic had violated protections intended to secure children’s privacy, and tactically drove players to make unintended purchases that amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars. The company are now settling for $520 million (£427 million).
A federal court case claimed that Epic breached the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting details about Fortnite players who were younger than 13 years old without getting parental consent or contacting their parents. That’s been settled for $275 million. The complaint also alleged Epic illegally enabled real-time voice and text chat for young players as Fortnite’s default, which the FTC said put them at risk from strangers.